Puteal

This puteal (wellhead) was perhaps first used as a votive altar before being repurposed in antiquity; deep grooves in the rim were worn over time by ropes pulling up pails of water. It is decorated in relief with four scenes divided by slender thyrsoi. Two of the scenes are Dionysian: one depicts a pine tree in whose branches a goat-headed rhyton (drinking horn) and two flutes hang; the other shows a panther drinking from a wine jug beneath a garland of vines strung with a hunting stick and oscillum (roundel) decorated with a dancing Cupid. These alternate with two scenes referencing Apollo: one with a griffin beneath a garland of laurel branches, the other with a tripod entwined with a serpent and on which an eagle perches. A bow and quiver leans to the side. Motifs relating to both gods were popular in the 1st century AD, often in opposition like this. Dionysus represented the pleasures of luxury and Apollo the virtues of restraint, in this context perhaps demonstrating the importance of balancing piety with leisure.